Author's Note: Wow, thank you guys for all of the reviews! It was a very pleasant surprise to come home and see my inbox with 5 whole reviews in it! Anywho, here's a little B chapter. I'll probably post the next whole chapter within a few days, but I have a final paper due soon, so we'll see. Enjoy though! :)

Chapter 7.b

The last day of Akahana's life wasn't particularly great. She woke up that morning in one of her sad moods, making herself get out of bed and act normal for Hiroshi. The words of her best friend Miyuki were ringing through her head. "If you just told him about Hiroshi, he'd come back."

That had been an argument the two of them had the entire time she was pregnant. Miyuki told Akahana everyday about how hard it was to be a single parent, and she was right, but Akahana just couldn't tell him. She couldn't tear him away from his village, his friends, his roots, his home. That wouldn't be fair to him.

"Good morning Mommy," Hiroshi said as he walked into the living room, carrying the panda Akahana made for him while she was pregnant with him.

"Good morning Hiroshi," she said sweetly, painting over the sorrow in her voice with sugar, so he wouldn't expect anything. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh huh," he said, the smile on his face floating through his voice. "Do you have a mission today?"

"Not until tonight," she answered, having a hard time making her words sweet. She made him a quick breakfast before kissing his cheek. "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too Mommy," he said as he started eating breakfast. She ruffled his feather soft hair and walked into the kitchen, holding onto the counter like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. It was this day all those years ago that Kakashi left, but it still felt raw.

She never wanted to admit to him how much she cared about him, and she knew deep in her heart that he may have felt the same about her, but she couldn't do it. She remembers them talking about it specifically. There's no point in shinobi marrying. It only brings more pain.

There was also the fact that they spent so much time trying to convince themselves that they weren't in love. She didn't know if Kakashi was doing the same as she was and telling himself that so that it would be easier, but she knew that was her case.

"Mommy?" Hiroshi said, pulling on his mother's night shirt and bringing her back to reality. "Are you alright?"

She realized her eyes were filling up with tears. She rubbed them away and smiled at her son.

"Of course I am Hiroshi," she said as she scooped up her son and kissed both of his cheeks. "How about we color, huh?"

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your mission?" Miyuki asked Akahana as she walked into the mission station.

"Yeah, I will, but I wanted to ask you if you could check something for me first," she said as she shoved her hands into her pants pockets. Miyuki gave her a look. "Can you look up Kakashi's file?"

"Why?" she asked, sounding far from amused.

"Because… I want to make sure he isn't dead," Akahana said, deciding to go with the truth for once. Miyuki's eyes instantly became soft as she tucked her short black hair behind her ear.

"Of course Akahana," she said as she typed the shinobi's name into their database. "I don't know how much information it will give us, but it will definitely say whether he's alive or not."

Akahana waited impatiently as the slow database loaded. She paced the room about four times until Miyuki called her over.

"Come look at this," she said, turning the monitor so Akahana could see it. Kakashi was still alive… Not only that, but he was a Sensei now. There was a picture of him with his young squad.

"He hasn't changed a bit…" Akahana said as she stared at the monitor. She ran her hand over her blonde hair, blinking away tears.

"Hana? Are you okay?" Miyuki asked as the shinobi turned to leave.

"You're right. I need to get ready for my mission," Akahana said as she disappeared. Miyuki sat back down, heart aching for her best friend. She had been one of the members of their squad when Kakashi was around and remembered how much they cared for each other, even though they'd never admit it. It wasn't like they were very public about affection or anything. Actually, anyone who didn't know them personally would probably think they were only acquaintances, but Miyuki could specifically remember the way they always had each other's backs, even in the heat of battle. The way that they threw themselves in horribly dangerous situations, just at the prospect of maybe saving the other from a little pain was a devotion she had never seen before. Akahana had always said that Kakashi did that for everyone, and while it was true that he was very protective of his teammates, it was always different with her. It was as though he'd die at the thought of her being even touched by an enemy and it lit a sort of fire inside him. Miyuki looked back down at the monitor of her old teammate and closed the screen. If he'd known what Akahana had been through since he left, he'd die from knowing that he didn't protect her.

When Akahana got home, the first thing she did was check on Hiroshi. He seemed fast asleep, his face nuzzled into his panda that he loved so much. She walked over to him and sat down on his bed, staring at her beautiful son. She could remember how when she informed her employers that she would be taking a leave of absence for a few years because she was having a baby, how they told her to have an abortion. She would never forget how hard she had to fight to have him, and sitting there with him, she knew it was worth it. He was truly the only good thing she had left in her life.

After planting a kiss on his forehead, Akahana left Hiroshi's room and walked into her own, to prepare for her mission. She put on her shinobi uniform, wrapped her long hair into a tight bun and put on her mask. She remembered how she use to wear her mask so that people wouldn't see her beauty and to prevent them from not taking her seriously. Now she wore it just because she felt empty without it.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked out of her room and into the living room, thinking to herself and remembering life how it was. It may have not been ideal, her and Kakashi's relationship, but it had worked for both of them and she missed it. She couldn't help but think that maybe, once Hiroshi did meet him…

No, she was a shinobi! She needed to do her job and not worry about that… But she knew deep in her heart that she didn't want to be a shinobi anymore. She couldn't do her job well. Her focus was too divided.

"It's decided," she said to herself as she walked out the door. "After this mission, I'm resigning. I'll take Hiroshi to Konoha, and we'll be a family, like we should have always been."